Sick Like Me
by Scriddlerlover78
Summary: Edward couldn't think why he would ever choose someone like Jonathan as someone worthy of his thoughts and his precious time, and yet, seemingly without reason, the man continued to invade his thoughts, causing him to side track on his grand schemes to grab that watch he thought would look wonderful on Jonathan's wrist or a pair of shoes he guessed were around Jonathan's size.
1. Introduction

When Edward had started his criminal career as The Riddler, he had never intended to do it for the riches, he did it for the status; the knowledge that he was better than the police, than the idiotic man that ran over the roofs of Gotham dressed as a bat. However, suddenly he started to find himself reaching for little expensive rings and paintings. Items he would never have intended to take for himself because they would not help him in any way with his new set of riddler trophies, or with the next trap he was sure would crush the bat this time. Yet here he was with a pile of useless junk in his current hideout, pondering why he had bothered to drag all these back to his den.

The TV flashed up Gotham's most popular news channel that was currently playing out his latest burglary. He smirked as he watched himself complete the crime flawlessly, twirling his cane as he stood centre stage among ape-faced thugs and cowering bank employees. Then his smirk fell as the words 'BREAKING NEWS' flashed across the screen to show a live broadcast outside the Ace Chemicals Plant.

Ah, that was why.

The reason for grabbing these pointless items was the man that was currently in the Chemical Plant that seemed to have caught Edward's eye. Jonathan Crane aka the Scarecrow.

Edward couldn't think why he would ever choose someone like Jonathan as someone worthy of his thoughts and his precious time, perhaps it was because the man was almost as intelligent as he was, or maybe it was because he seemed to have a similar sense of humour to Edward. Sometimes he thought it was his blue eyes that always shined out from behind his glasses or through the gaps of the ridiculous burlap sack he always wears, but always scoffed at the idea that he, the Riddler, would reduce himself to a hopeless romantic.

And yet, seemingly without reason, the man continued to invade his thoughts, causing him to side track on his grand schemes to grab that watch he thought would look wonderful on Jonathan's wrist or a pair of shoes he guessed were around Jonathan's size.

He had known Jonathan from their moments in Arkham together of course; those days when a group of the Rogues were forced to talk about their feelings in front of each other, or when the seats in the cafeteria had caused them to sit across from each other to enjoy the culinary miracle that was the Asylums cooking. But in all that time they shared in Arkham together, Edward had never once considered Jonathan as anything more than the crazy psychologist with a kink for scaring people.

No, his fascination with this tall, scrawny man had started only a few weeks ago after Edward's most recent escape from Arkham, when he was getting ready to announce his early release to the people of Gotham with a well-planned theft from Wayne tech, only to find he had been beaten to it by the very same man that was now robbing the Ace Chemicals.


	2. Everyone needs a little therapy

"Thank you all for settling down nicely, I know you would probably prefer to spend you leisure time reading or doing something else, but I believe that all of you can gain from talking about how you feel"

Edward scoffed. The new psychiatrist at the Asylum was as bad as the last one, if not worse, always talking about feelings and trying to get the inmates to open up to one another. Well it was never going to happen, not when all of the rogues were just waiting like vultures for any tiny sliver of secret that they could use to tear you open and devour your insides. But that didn't stop Dr. Peterson from trying. Therefore, despite Edward's many protests, he was now sat on one of the asylum's uncomfortable plastic chairs, in a circle, with his fellow rogues.

Dr Peterson sat in his leather arm chair, which Edward saw as a sign that he believed he was better than all of the inmates, and he looked forward to the moment when he could pull that illusion out from beneath the doctor's feat. To Dr. Peterson's right was Humphry Dumpler, or as the Riddler knew him Humpty-Dumpty. He sat on the plastic chair fiddling with some jumbled pieces of metal that he appeared to be trying to put back together again. Next to Dumpler sat Pamela Isley, who looked as if the very presence of the other rogues was personally offending her, which was to be expected as the group therapy was taking her away from her babies. Edward was next to Poison Ivy, feeling his brain cells die the longer the doctor continued talking. Beside him was Jervis Tetch, who Edward had known for a while and found to be quite pleasant to have a conversation with as long as he was not in one of his Mad Hatter moments. Jonathan sat next to Jervis and had looked bored from the moment he had entered the room, he seemed determined to show disbelief at everything Dr. Peterson said, and if the doctors face was anything to go by Jonathan was succeeding in annoying him. Harley Quinn was perched at the end of her plastic seat, trying to hide the wide grin that was threatening to burst onto her face at the doctors words. Finally Maxie Zeus sat to the left of Dr. Peterson, and would not stop spouting rubbish about the godly status he supposedly held. Edward was about 2 minutes away from leaping from his chair to beg to be released from the therapy that he could only describe as chaos.

Dr Peterson sighed, rubbing his hands over his eyes as if twenty years had been added to his face in the 10 minutes it had taken for Maxie Zeus to stop talking,

"Well thank you Maxie for sharing that with us all, now who would like to go next?"

He faced the circle of rogues, but his eyes seemed to have lost hope that he would achieve anything from the session. Slowly Ivy raised her hand, and Dr. Peterson's eyes lit up.

"Yes Pamela, you have something to share with the group"

She sighed and sat forward on her chair, her right leg crossed over her left. She raised her head to look Dr. Peterson in the eyes.

"Yes Doctor. You see I am feeling like this entire therapy session is a complete waste of my time, and I can't wait until the day I can get out of this retched Asylum and follow you home and kill any members of your family that are living with you at the time, and steal any of the plants that are currently sitting in your house dying because you are too thick to know how to properly look after them"

She fell back lazily in the chair, giving off a sense of joy at the horrified look which had now fallen across the doctor's face. The doctor coughed and said quietly,

"Thank you for that contribution Pamela but I don't have any family at the moment, unless you count my cat and I'm sure my house plants are doing quite well"

Suddenly Harley sprang forward, leaning over her knees and clutching her stomach, as if it would stop the uncontrollable laughter that was coming out of her mouth.

"Aww poor Dr. Peterson is still single"

She continued laughing, tears running down her face from laughter

"Why doesn't that surprise me? I bet even Scarecrow here has better luck getting laid then the doctor does"

Crane raised an eyebrow at Harley's words, rotating his head towards the giggling mess of a girl, clearly unamused by her words.

"I must be honest Miss Quinzel I'm not sure whether to take that as a compliment or an insult and I think you'll find I have a lot more success in finding partners then most people would believe"

Harley stopped laughing for a brief moment to give Jonathan the most surprised look Edward believed he had ever witnessed on her face before bursting into a new fit of laughter. Meanwhile Jonathan continued to look at her, clearly annoyed at this blatant insult to his physique. Edward himself was trying not to laugh at the whole situation, he couldn't image how anyone would find the gangly mess of limbs that was Jonathan Crane attractive, and he was scared to image how one would even make attempts at human interaction with the self-proclaimed master of fear, but he was sure it would feel like trying to rub yourself up against a skeleton, all bones and sharp bits. The imagery he created of that scenario only made it harder to not laugh along with Harley, and at seeing the smile on Ivy's face and hearing the little sniggers that Tetch was letting out, Edward decided to stop avoiding the inevitable and was eventually in his own little laughing fit.

Dr Peterson sighed and tried to bring some sort of sense to the mess that had previously been his group therapy session.

"And how do you feel about your previous attempts at a partnership Jonathan?"

Jonathan's head quickly snapped towards Dr. Peterson's face, his eyes seemed to be full of anger, all of which was now directed towards this one little psychiatrist

"How dare you, my title is Doctor Crane and I will be addressed as such, do not vex me you pathetic excuse for a psychologist. When I worked in this asylum I would have scoffed at idiots like you with your talking and your feelings. Well if I learned anything from my years as a TOP psychologist it's that Freud was a fool and talking achieves absolutely nothing"

Jonathan seemed to calm down after his rant, but there was still a murderous glint in his eyes and his hands were still clenched in a way that made Edward glad that Crane didn't have access to a can of his famous fear toxin.

Dr. Peterson looked completely shocked, as if he had not realised what mistake he had made to receive such a violent response from a man that was known to prefer to mess with your mind then to break your bones, but Edward knew from many years of hearing outbursts from his cell in Arkham that the one way to get the worse out of Jonathan was to mention his lost status as a doctor.

Dr Peterson swallowed, before standing up, looking a little shaken. He indicated to the door and the guards that were standing beside it. They walked forward and began to grab the rogues, starting with Maxie Zeus, walking them to their cells and slamming the doors behind them. Clearly the good doctor was finished with them. Edward smiled; he had lasted to longer than the last one.

~A few hours later~

Edward jolted out of the vivid nightmare he had been having. Even though he had killed the bastard, his father never left the hidden parts of Edward's vast mind, and continued to reappear in the few hours of sleep that Edward sometimes managed to achieve. Rubbing his eyes to remove the sleep that had collected there, Edward sat up and looked around his cell. Fortunately, for security purposes, the corridor still had lighting, so Edward was able to look around his cell while he tried to calm his raging heart.

Suddenly alarms started blaring throughout the asylum causing Edward to jump from the standard edition bed that the asylum provided. He slowly walked to the bars of his cell, listening out for any signs of gunshots or screams that would tell Edward whether it was one of the more aggressive inmates that had managed to escape.

All he could hear was the wailing of the alarm, which concerned Edward because no matter which inmate escaped, there was always some noise from the guards or from the inmate themselves. Yet there seemed to be nothing.

"Hey! What's going on out there, you know some of us need to sleep to power our superior intellects"

Edward waited for a reply and when he received none, not even from another inmate, he knew something was wrong. Moving quickly he reached into his mattress and grabbed the small hairpin that he had hidden there months ago, waiting for a moment when he really needed a quick and sudden escape. Finding the pin easily, he moved back to the door of his cell and reached his hands through the bars trying to get an angle that would allow him to pick the lock. Luckily it didn't take long for his hands to get into position, especially considering his wrists were quite slender. Just as the lock clicked to symbolise Edward's success a hand grabbed his wrists causing Edward to jerk back from the lock. However the grip on his arm was too strong and his pulling failed to loosen it at all. Edward's heart started beating fast, he was sure the only time he had been this scared, in recent years, was when Batman had chased him down the alleyways of Gotham after he cheated on one of his Riddler traps. Looking up from the door of his cell he found himself looking into eyes that were far too blue to be natural.

"CRANE, WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING!?"

The grip on his wrist was removed and the door to his cell was opened. Edward took a step out into the corridor, and turned to face the looming figure that was Jonathan Crane in full Scarecrow costume. Behind Jonathan, Edward could see the nervous figure of Jervis Tetch, who appeared to be on the lookout for any guards that might find them out in the corridor. Edward turned to Jonathan, hoping for an explanation as to where all the inmates of the asylum had appeared to have gone, although he was hoping that Jonathan would give him one without him having to ask so that he could pretend like he had already known. Jonathan sighed at the awkward silence that had fallen over the three rogues, and then began to explain,

"Jervis placed mind control devices on all the inmates in this wing except us three, he then got them to start acting as if in pain to make it appear like something was attacking them. Fortunately the guards are not very smart and started pulling the inmates out of their cells to check what was wrong. Of course, Jervis then got the villains to attack the guards and steal the keys to the cells to release the other inmates and ourselves. Then we sent the inmates into the other areas of the asylum to distract the guards while Jervis and I went to the lock-up and collected our stuff. We left you because you were sleeping and we couldn't be bothered to deal with you and your massive ego. To be honest I told Jervis we should leave you but he said we couldn't…"

Jervis suddenly jumped in between the two, twitching his head back and forth.

"I said we couldn't leave the Dormouse here or Alice would get very upset with me, oh yes she would, and we wouldn't want to upset Alice…"

Jervis started to walk away from Edward and Jonathan, mumbling something about being late to a tea party. Edward sighed and looked at Jonathan who, at this point, looked like he was tired with the whole escape attempt. Edward grabbed his question mark cane that Jonathan had been holding the whole time and began to follow Jervis towards the end of the corridor.

Edward walked past Jervis and up to the electronic lock that kept the inmates out of the lift that would take them to the entrance of the asylum. He put in the 8 numbered code for the door and waited for the lift to lower down to their level. Jervis turned to him; his hat seemed to only just fit atop his head.

"I'm so glad you decided to come with us Dormouse, The March Hare has been very grumpy this whole time, I think the Red queen has said something to upset him", Jervis stated, looking at Jonathan from the corner of his eye as if to not let the man notice that he was talking about him, even though he had said the sentence at a volume that Crane would definitely be able to hear.

Edward laughed and looked at Jonathan who appeared to be trying to look disinterested, but the small frown was still clear on his face.

The lift opened in front of them and the three rogues walked in. Jervis handed Edward a pile of clothes, which he realised quickly were the ones he had been wearing when he had last been captured. Edward smiled and asked the other rogues to turn around so that he could get dressed. Jervis placed a hand in front of his face but Jonathan just rolled his eyes

"If you haven't noticed we are in a lift, there is no way you can get that ridiculous pile of cloth you call an outfit on in the time it takes us to get to the top floor, but by all means go ahead and try so I can watch you fail"

Jonathan crossed his arms and looked at Edward with his signature raised eyebrow which always managed to make Edward feel like an idiot, something he did not appreciate. Edward turned his head away from Jonathan annoyed at the man.

"Well sorry Spooky for having pride in my appearance. Not everyone can feel comfortable wearing some rotten straw and covering their face with hay that gets FUCKING EVERYWHERE", Edward yelled, picking off a strand of straw that had somehow managed to get on his Arkham pyjamas.

Jervis slowly lowered the hand that still covered his eyes, looking between the two as the doors of the lift opened out into the entrance hall of the Asylum.

The only way Edward could explain the situation in the entrance hall were with the words absolute chaos. Not only were there the standard Arkham guards, but police officers as well that had probably been called in to deal with the hundreds of inmates that were mindlessly attacking anything that got close enough, which unfortunately appeared to include other inmates as well.

Edward felt something get pushed into his hands and looked down to see he was now holding a gas mark. In the seconds it took Edwards mind to understand what he was supposed to do, one police officer, who had been close to the lifts, noticed the trio standing there and lifted her gun at the rogues. Edward forced the gas mask over his face and settled it in place just as Crane moved forward and threw a canister of what could only be his fear toxin. Almost immediately the cop began to scream, raising her hands to her face as if to protect herself from the hellish nightmare she was seeing. Crane threw more canisters into the crowd of inmates and guards, to which he received a symphony of screams. Edward was sure that Crane was grinning like a small child in a candy shop at the display. As they waited to make sure the coast was clear Jonathan walked up to the first officer that had fallen to his fear toxin

"OH GOD! GET THEM OFF ME PLEASE! THEIR DISGUSTING! THE PAWS ARE ALL OVER ME! FILTHTY LITTLE RODENTS! NO PLEASE!"

Jonathan leaned into the cries of the officer, as if trying to absorb her fear. He watched her thrash on the ground and tilted his head to observe her better.

"Musophobia, the fear of rats. What a lovely fear you have officer", he reached his hand towards her, but was jolted out of his trance like state when Jervis started shaking his shoulders, squealing something about bats.

Edward turned quickly to see the figure of the Batman fighting his way through the sea of terrified staff, inmates and police officers. Jonathan had stopped watching the women and seemed to have clocked the presence of the bat because he turned suddenly and started sprinting in the opposite direction, which unfortunately was away from the entrance. Edward followed Jonathan anyway, not wanting to get caught by the vigilante. He grabbed Jervis' hand and lifted the small man up as he had started to get left behind by Jonathan's long strides. Ahead of Edward, Jonathan turned the corner. Edward put on more power to keep up with the man that always seemed to forget that not everyone had stupidly long legs. As he turned the corner he spotted Jonathan who appeared to have crashed into an Arkham guard. The man had managed to grab Jonathan's arm so that he could not spray his fear toxic into the man's face. Edward let go of Jervis and charged forward, swinging his cane around to hit the guard in the face with all his might. He was quite proud when the man immediately fell unconscious. Jonathan looked at Edward from behind his burlap sack, before grunting something that Edward supposed was the closest he would get to a thank you, and then continued running in the same direction he had been going in. Edward reached out for Jervis again before continuing chase of former doctor.

After what felt like many twists and turns through the halls of Arkham, with the constant nagging in his head that Batman was right behind them, they managed to reach a door that looked heavily locked. Edward panicked. He had no idea what the code was for this door. That didn't seem to bother Crane as he started pushing a random code into the lock beside the door. The red light turned green and Edward heard the door unlock. Ridiculous, he thought, either Jonathan had managed to get one of the codes from a member of staff, or they hadn't gotten around to changing the codes on this door since Jonathan had worked there. Jonathan reached forward and, with more strength then Edward thought the scrawny man had, managed to open the large metal door aside. He turned back to Edward and Jervis and indicated for them to enter through the door quickly, to which he received a worried look from Jervis and a look of disbelief from Edward.

"My dear March Hare, you don't expect us to go through there do you"? Tetch asked, trying to lean past Edward to get a look at the sewer looking pathway that the door opened into.

"Yes, my dear hatter, I do expect us to go through here, considering that the bat is likely to be on our tail and I would rather require a shower, then get beaten up and thrown in a cell by a man that clearly has issues", Jonathan replied, with the same bored expression he always seemed to wear when he had to explain the reasons behind his actions or why the staff at Arkham were incompetent.

"Well it might be acceptable for some, but I would prefer to escape the bat and not smell like Killer Croc's dinner for the next couple of weeks, so can we go find another way out like…oh I don't know…THE ENTRANCE, you know the place we were right next to before you decided to take us on the fastest trip around Arkham", Edward crossed his arms and waited for the sarcastic reply he was sure he would receive from Jonathan.

"Ah yes, of course the entrance, why didn't I think of that? Hmm…perhaps that would be because Batman was right in front of it and looked like he would finally take that final step and murder us if we attempted to get past him, but of course, let's turn around and go back", Jonathan said, almost without any sign of emotion.

Edward sighed and took a step past Jonathan into the sewers of Arkham. He could already feel the smell clinging to his hair and the Arkham pyjamas, although he didn't mind if they got dirty, but his hair was precious to him and it was one of his proudest features. Jervis followed Edward's lead and quickly scrambled past the metal door. Finally, Jonathan slid past himself and closed the door, sliding the lock shut to make sure Batman would have a harder time to follow them.

Eventually they managed to reach the outside of the Asylum, where the sky was pitch black, with only a few stars in the sky because of the lights that were shining in Gotham, one being a large bat symbol in the sky. Edward looked at his fellow companions, the nervous little tea lover and the sarcastic Georgian doctor and then he started the long walk back to Gotham, with the closest things he had to friends walking behind him.


	3. Well isn't this awkward

Edward was ready to get back into the swing of things. It had only been a couple of days since he had escaped from Arkham with the help of Jonathan and Jervis. They had managed to make it back to Gotham without any more bat related incidents, and then decided to go their separate ways, Edward had laid low for a while hoping to avoid being thrown back into his cell after he had just gotten out of it. Eventually, when he thought the coast was clear, Edward returned to one of his favourite hideouts located in the Bowery.

This particular hideout was very close to Edward's heart as it had been one of his very first, that had yet to be discovered and that was mainly due to the fact that Edward liked it so much that he didn't want to risk losing it by creating a grand scheme inside of it, therefore while Edward called it a hideout it was more like his home.

Edward entered the 4-digit code to the hideout, he remembered when he had made the code the answer to one of his favourite riddles and for a whole week his henchmen had remained outside because they were unable to figure it out. He quickly decided for something more practical. He walked down the hall to enter what could be called the living room of his hideout, as inside was a large plush sofa that Edward had purchased which was joined by a smaller sofa of a matching design. The large sofa was placed on the right of the door, while the smaller was opposite the door tilted slightly to left to face the large TV that Edward had placed on the wall. Even though he rarely used it, the TV was hooked up to multiple different consoles, each with their own pile of games that Edward once had thought would hold his attention, only to learn that most didn't excite him at all. He did have some he enjoyed, such as the portal games, but even they had not taken him long to solve.

He moved past the living room, and into the dining room, where the main feature was a large 6 seated mahogany table. Edward sighed at the dust which had collected on the table, realising that he would have to clean it if he was ever going to get some peace of mind. He trudged into the kitchen, grabbing the kettle that sat on the granite counter, and refilled it under the tap that was next to it. He clicked the kettle on and began to get out a cup from the cupboard that was above his head. Turning, he walked to the fridge behind him and reached for the milk, returning back to the counter just as the water finished boiling. After making himself a cup of tea, he returned to the living room to relax.

Edward looked at the blueprints he had left lying over the small coffee table he had in front of the large sofa. Reaching forward, he grabbed one that was close to him, trying not to spill hot tea on himself. He looked over the blueprint, which revealed his most recent plan for a death contraption. Smiling to himself he imagined the blades finishing off the Batman and moving aside for his glorious victory speech. That settled it. Edward sat up and moved the other blueprints aside, still trying to keep them neatly together so his OCD wouldn't start playing up. He laid the blueprint down on the table and examined the parts he would need, quickly completing a checklist in his head for ones he believed he had and for ones he could easily get. Then he came across the computer chips for the device and his smile fell. He could have easily made the chips, but it would take a lot longer than he was willing to wait to get all the parts in. He placed his now empty mug on one of the coasters on the small table, and stood up to go collect his laptop from the smaller sofa. He was very fond of the laptop he had bought for himself. It was a top-of-the-range laptop and was covered in a collage of question marks. Opening up the device, he quickly entered his password and brought up his browser, before typing in the exact computer chips that he wanted, hoping someone would have some available.

When the results loaded Edward groaned. Wayne Enterprises. Of fucking course. Like anyone else in this pathetic little excuse for a city would create a complicated piece of software that would require the use of more than a few brain cells. Edward had been able to make these chips for a while now, as long as he had the required material, but it seemed Wayne Enterprises had only just developed them. Edward scoffed, he bet that they would be nothing compared to the ones he made, but it would have to do.

Looking at the clock that hung on the wall beside the door, Edward wondered whether he would have enough time to make the theft tonight, so he could start working on his grand scheme. Just about and if he was quick enough in the shower Edward might even have some time spare.

~A lot of pampering later~

Edward was in a rush. He had been wrong about how much time he had. Well…he hadn't been wrong about the time he had, but he had miscalculated how long he would take to get out of the shower. Now, he was sitting in the passenger seat of the van he had forced one of his more loyal henchmen to hire, annoyed at himself for being too damn concerned about how he looked.

Eventually they pulled up to the Wayne Enterprises tower, and Edward leapt out of the van, not waiting for the henchmen behind him to get their weapons ready in case they bumped into any guards. He walked up the main doors and set the small explosive he had prepared. Moving backwards, he covered his eyes with his left arm just in case, not that he expected anything to go wrong, he had made the device himself. He heard the small hiss and then the sound of smashing glass as the doors fell to his genius. Twirling his cane, Edward proceeded to enter the building, stopping when he noticed that they had not been confronted by any guards, or even an alarm. Edward raised his eyebrows in confusion, he knew Wayne Enterprises were terrible but he thought they would at least hire some decent security. His henchmen Dirk walked up beside him.

"Hey boss, it's a little quite don't you think? Wonder where everyone is", Dirk grunted, as he moved his head from side to side slowly, as if he thought he would be able to spot any guards that appeared to be playing hide and seek.

"Of course it is you buffoon! I noticed that already. The guards are probably just somewhere sleeping on the job, lazing around on those pieces of donut filled flesh they call asses", he replied, trying to make it seem like he wasn't curious as to the actual location of the staff.

Dirk seemed to accept the answer, walking in front of Edward, towards the lift that they would use to reach the top floors of Wayne Enterprises, where the computer chips were stored. Edward was trying not to act nervous. He had planned this over in his head the whole drive here, but he had not planned for the complete absence of the guards and so was unsure of how the plan would go. 'What if's' were swimming through his head, making his heart race, he hated when pathetic little apes decided to do things they were not supposed to do. WHY COULDN'T PEOPLE JUST STICK TO HIS PLANS!?

Edward took a calming breathe as he entered the elevator with his 5 henchmen. He stood at the back with his men guarding him, just in case they met some resistance at the top of the building.

The lift doors glided open and his men stepped out into the laboratory, seemingly without any problems, and so Edward slowly walked behind them, hesitant to leave the safety of the metal moving box. Edward stopped suddenly as a loud cry erupted through the air, breaking through the silence. He hoped that was not one of his guys. Holding his cane tighter, he stood still by the entrance of the elevator, contemplating getting back inside and leaving the chips behind. No, he needed these chips, and he would be damned if he allowed some trigger happy guard to outsmart him and send him packing home.

Edward rolled his shoulders before leisurely walking forward, hoping his attacker would assume he was unfazed by the attack and would then proceed to back off. Instead he turned round the corner to be met by what seemed to be a stalemate. On his side were all 5 of his henchmen, which Edward was quite proud of because it meant the scream had not been one of his. Each of them held their weapons up, focussed on another group of henchmen, who were unfortunately at a number of 7, but one of the men was on the floor, seemingly unconscious. The 6 remaining henchmen too had their weapons raised, and behind them Edward could see a glint of burlap.

"Well isn't this awkward", Edward called out, pushing past Dirk to stand in front of his men, hoping Jonathan would follow his league.

"Indeed Mr Nigma, for some reason I seem to recall only seeing you recently, isn't that strange?" The Scarecrow did as Edward had hoped and pushed through the henchmen he had brought with him to face Edward.

"Well I wouldn't want you to miss me too much, so I thought I would invite myself to this little event you have going on", Edward replied, shrugging his shoulder to appear like he had known all along that Jonathan would be here.

"Wait you knew the Scarecrow was gonna be here the whole time boss?" Edward snapped his head round quickly to respond to Dirk.

"Well of course I did you moron! I wouldn't rob a place if I didn't make sure to know exactly what was going to happen." Edward felt proud of himself when Dirk nodded his head, as if that totally made sense, but on turning back to Scarecrow he could see the smirk that suggested Crane hadn't believed him at all.

Crane stepped forward, raising his arms out wide as if accepting Edward and his men to his home. Edward could see the clever device Jonathan used to spray fear toxin into the faces of his victims and immediately started to work his brain into hyper-drive. While Jonathan was someone Edward would consider a friend, he had been on the receiving end of Jonathan's fear toxin, especially in scenarios like this one, and would not be against some minor begging if it would prevent him from experiencing it again.

"Well Edward, as you have now graced us with your presence I suppose you can now leave…unless, of course, that was not actually what you came here for", Crane crossed his arms, waiting for Edward's reply.

Edward frowned, cursing Jonathan silently in his head with every offensive word he knew, which was quite a few.

"Alright spooky, I'll admit, I'm not just here for you oh so lovely figure, although it is so wonderful to look at you and the mess of straw covered sticks you call limbs. I'm also here for some computer chips, and I think we can both agree that it would be far easier for everyone present if I just run in, grab them and leave." Edward tried to hide his panic, knowing that the comment on his figure would likely annoy Crane, and yet he was unable to stop himself from making it.

Eventually the stand-off broke as Crane stepped aside and indicated to Edward that he should walk past and into the safe that contained the computer chips. Edward nodded and began walking past Crane, watching the henchmen and Jonathan for any signs of sudden movement. He reached the safe and grabbed the computer chips, turning round and heading back to the safety of his own men. He felt like a prisoner that was being released and had to hope the enemy wouldn't shoot him before he had made it back to the group of people that had bargained for his life.

Just as he passed Scarecrow a hand shot out and grabbed him by his left arm, pulling his ear close to Crane's mouth. Seemingly all at once, the henchmen from both sides raised their weapons again, ready to respond; Edward hoped none of them had a twitchy trigger finger.

"If you ever speak to me like that again Edward, you will find I will not be so kind as to let you walk away with just a warning", Scarecrow rasped, his voice low and calculated.

"Why thank you for Crane for being so understanding, now please let go of me I would like to get home", Edward replied, trying to keep his voice level.

Crane let go and Edward slid past his men and into the lift once again, waiting from his men to enter, before the lift went back down to the ground floor. Edward walked calmly across the tiles and back past the doors, before sitting back into the passenger seat of the van and asking Dirk to take him back to his hideout.

Once they arrived, Edward thanked his men, receiving concerned looks as he walked zombie-like to the door of his hideout. He entered the code without any effort, and soon found himself on the large sofa again, clutching the computer chips. Slowly, the reality of the situation hit Edward, and he snapped out of his dazed state to begin one of anxiety based breakdowns. He usually had breakdowns, simply because many things seemed to trigger awful memories for him, but they had gotten less fierce over the years of therapy, although he would never tell the doctors at Arkham this. It had been a while since he had one of the same intensity as this, but Crane always seemed to know just what to say to bring all of the nightmares back at once. They would make Edward a large mess and he would usually remain hidden for a while before he felt like his old self again. Sometimes Edward wondered why he continued to push people despite knowing that under it all he was very, very fragile.


	4. We need to stop meeting like this

It took Edward almost a week to get back to himself again, more specifically 6 days, which was far too long for Edward to be thinking about Jonathan Crane in his opinion. Edward had called Dirk after his period of solitude to catch up with the criminal affairs that had occurred while he was occupied with his own thoughts. From what Dirk had told him, Jervis had attempted to kidnap a young, blonde girl called Mary Higson only to have his plans stopped by the big bad bat once again, however in the time it took Batman to fight off the goons that Hatter had working for him, Jervis had already left the scene and was running as fast as his little feet could take him. That meant he would probably be lying low for now, especially since no word of him being returned to Arkham had been heard.

A couple of murders had been found over Gotham, although the police were not sure whether it was the work of a serial killer, or if they were just random killings. Edward had laughed at this. Just what Gotham needed another serial killing psychopath. Apart from that, the odd battery didn't interest Edward, they were usually just some drunk that couldn't use their brains to control their actions while under the influence…well couldn't control what little brains they had.

No, what really interested Edward were the strings of thefts massing through Gotham by none other than The Scarecrow.

Edward had learned that Jonathan had been at Wayne Enterprises that fine evening to steal a rare chemical formula, which he probably believed would improve his fear toxin since that was all he ever did. However, what interested him about the thefts after that night was that they seemed to have nothing at all to do with Jonathan and his fear toxin. The thefts Jonathan had committed involved rare paintings, expensive jewellery, items that Edward may enjoy but certainly not ones that the fearsome Scarecrow could use to create a more powerful fear inducing toxin. Therefore Edward was confused and he hated it. Edward could never figure out Jonathan, and it frustrated him to no end. He had spent a whole day looking for any pattern in Jonathan's actions that could highlight what he was doing. At one point Edward thought maybe he was trying to catch the Batman's attention to try his new formulae on, and while the bat was on Crane's tail, the man always fled when the bat arrived, and never once tried to give him a lecture of fear. It was completely off from everything Edward thought he knew about Jonathan.

Well he wasn't going to give up. He was going to understand what Jonathan was up to even if it got him caught by Batman or sprayed in the face with fear toxin.

~later~

Edward sighed and stood straight, stretching out his back which had begun to ache because of the amount of time he had spent leaning over his dining room table that was now covered in different news feeds and camera footage screenshots on the recent thefts of the Scarecrow. His men thought he was being obsessive, but Edward just scorned them. They didn't know what it was like to be such a great intellect, and then find out someone knew something you didn't. He took a step back from the table and gave everything he had collected a wide view, hoping something would jump at him and it would all click into place, but he saw nothing. If Edward had to guess he would say the thefts were completely random, but that couldn't be it. No-way would Jonathan Crane, the fear obsessed doctor, suddenly take up an interest in fine arts when he had never shown an interest into it before. Why, many a time he had belittled Edward for enjoying the finer things in life that he said were meaningless and a waste of time and resources. This change of heart had to be caused by something, but Edward just couldn't figure out what.

Suddenly the door to his hideout was slammed open, making his whole body shake at the forced used to brutally open the door. Dirk practically sprinted in, with what appeared to be a letter in his hands.

"BOSS! BOSS! YOU'LL NEVER BELIEVE WHAT!"

Edward rolled his eyes at his closest henchmen. Sometimes they really surprised him with how stupid they could be.

"Dirk if I will never believe it then why are you telling me? Honestly sometimes you can be so thick". Edward responded, waiting to hear from Dirk the news that supposedly validated the destruction of his door.

"Sorry boss, I didn't mean it like that", Dirk replied, looking rightfully embarrassed, "You see one of our guys went down to the old diner down on 3rd Street and he got his meal and his cider, right? Could never understand why he drinks in the morning…"

"DIRK! Please just tell me what is so damn important!" Edward had practically screamed at Dirk, tired of listening to the man's pointless drivel.

"Sorry boss, Tommy got attacked by one of Crane's men and he left a message that told us to give you this letter and to not read it before giving it to you. I thought that was really important", Dirk said, handing out the letter to Edward.

Edward snatched the letter out of Dirk's hands, his excitement going into overdrive. Crane could be trying to contact Edward and make a deal, then he would have to explain what was going on, Edward would finally know. He could feel the grin on his face burst out at the thought of finally being in on the scheme that Jonathan was apparently planning. He hastily opened the letter, but not before yelling at Dirk to leave him alone. He didn't want anyone else in on Scarecrow's plan, even if it was one of his men.

The letter read:

 _My dear Edward,_

 _I apologise for being a little rough that night at Wayne Enterprises. I hope you will not hold it against me. To show you how sorry I am for my actions I thought I would invite you rob Gotham's largest, securest bank with me. I think it will be most pleasant for the both of us, especially as it will allow you to show off your awing intellect at being able to crack a supposedly uncrack-able vault. I hope to see you there at 7pm tonight, with a few of your men to go alongside my own._

 _Yours sincerely,_

 _Jonathan Crane._

Edward had read over the note a second time, a third time and even a fourth time trying to find any hidden sentences that might be contained in the note. He came up blank every time. If Crane had hidden a message in the note, then it was complete gibberish. Edward looked over the note again. It just wasn't like Jonathan to apologise, especially for anything related to his Scarecrow persona. So why would he apologise for then?

Edward placed the letter down and called Dirk. He strongly believed this was a trap to expose Edward to fear toxin or Batman. Edward thought both were just as likely. However, he had no other options just in case Jonathan was being serious. Edward couldn't miss an opportunity to know what Crane's motives were for all those pricey thefts. The phone rang twice before it was picked up by Dirk.

"Hey boss, did you read the letter? What did it say?" Edward frowned. Dirk could sometimes be too curious, it made Edward worried.

"Yes I did read the letter Dirk, and it is no concern of yours as to what it states. All you need to know is that I want you to gather the usual guys and get them ready. We are robbing the Gotham bank at 7 tonight", Edward responded, hanging up the phone, not waiting for a reply. He hoped Dirk would do as he was told. Now it was Edwards turn to get ready, he had to look good if he was going to be talking to a crowd.

~skip to 6:50pm~

The truck full of Edward's men pulled up outside the Gotham bank. Edward could see no sign of Jonathan or his henchmen and hoped that they would arrive late so he could make a comment about it. He was determined not to let his fear show, Jonathan would have a field day if he realised that Edward had been left very fragile after their previous meeting.

Edward opened the door of the truck and stepped out, wearing his usual full Riddler get-up with cane, mask and hat included. He felt better being back in his riddler suit, it always made him feel more confident. His henchmen lumbered out of the truck behind him, doing their usual weapons checks to ensure no gun was faulty while Edward continued to check out the area for any signs of Scarecrow activity.

Seeing none, Edward moved forward knowing his men would follow him. He walked towards the glass doors of the Gotham bank, noticing the last few members of the public that had foolishly decided to wait till the end of the day to manage their finances, well they were about to get a large shock. He turned around to examine his 5 usual henchmen that were all waiting by the van, with their guns ready. Edward hoped this wasn't a trap.

Looking at his watch, Edward noticed that it was 6:58pm, which meant that Jonathan did not have long to show up to this little robbery he had planned. Edward began pacing in front of the truck, his men watching him, not concerned as this was a common thing for Edward to do when he was being impatient.

Exactly 3 minutes after the assigned meeting time, Jonathan and his goons showed up, acting as if they were not 3 whole minutes late to an event they had invited him to. Edward was mildly irritated but he supposed it was better than them not turning up at all.

Edward walked over to the truck that Jonathan had brought with him and his men, standing just by them, watching as they got organised for the event. Edward felt smug as he watched them, realising that his men had been far more prepared in comparisons to Jonathan's who were taking longer to check that their weapons were ready for the job.

Silently, Jonathan arrived by Edward's side. The Riddler hadn't even noticed that the man had moved. For a tall, straw clad man he could come and go unnoticed surprisingly well. Jonathan was standing far too close for Edward's comfort, especially since the last time Edward had been this close to the man he had ended up having a very unpleasant few days afterwards. Edward was about to ask him to move back when one spindly arm of the Scarecrow fell across his shoulder and a warm breath brushed over his left ear.

"I'm so glad you decided to join us Edward, I was worried our last meet up would have scared you away", Jonathan's voice was quite gravelly as it fell on Edward's ears, it was a rough tone of voice that ran down Edward's spine in a way he would never admit to if asked.

"Oh please Jonathan, you are not that scary, now I would like to negotiate how much shares I am getting out of this. I don't do anything for free, as I am sure you know", Edward replied, trying to keep an air of calm around him at the proximity of Crane. He felt like Scarecrow was just attempting to get a rise out of him, something that the man was quite skilled at, but Edward was determined not to allow Jonathan the satisfaction of seeing him affected by his words.

"Why of course Edward, I was thinking a 50/50 split between the two of us, I think it's only fair, is that satisfactory for you?" Edward perked up at the offer. A 50/50 split! Edward couldn't think of the last time someone had offered to go half with him on a team-up, even on the occasions when he had planned a heist himself and needed someone like Dent to do the more heavy lifting tasks. Gotham's criminals were greedy and they liked to suck you dry of every penny they could rid you of. If Jonathan was offering an equal split, Edward was taking it.

"Hmm…yes I think that will do. How very kind of you Crane", Edward slide out from the long arm that was still wrapped over his shoulder and turned away from Crane and his men, who now appeared to be ready to rob the Gotham bank. He walked back to his own thugs, hoping his excitement over such an easy deal didn't show on his face.

When he reached them he signalled to Dirk that the robbery had been officially agreed on and that he should get ready to rush in on Edward's orders. Then he returned his sight to Jonathan who had repeated a similar command to his men before signalling to Edward as if to say "After You".

The process of getting into the bank and forcing the public on the ground was so trivial that Edward felt like he was going through the motions of a dull evening as he watched it play out. The thugs barged through the doors of the Gotham bank, their guns raised, shooting at the ceiling while shouting at the small quantity of people that were still in the bank at the time. It had mainly been staff, but there were the odd customers that had still been present despite how late it was. His men dealt with any staff behind the counters, making sure their hands were where they could see them, or were reaching into tills to get out any money that hadn't been placed in the vault yet. Scarecrow's men dealt with the few people that were in the middle of the bank floor, getting them to lie on the ground with their hands over their heads. After the hostages had been dealt with, Edward and Jonathan walked forward. Edward liked to think of it as a grand entrance. He had his cane twirling as he leisurely walked past the mindless monkeys that had guns held to their heads. The two rogues didn't bother with the hostages, walking past them into the banks main vault.

Dirk followed after the two, holding the bag in which Edward had placed the required equipment he would need for the job. The device he had built was fairly simple in principle, but of course the actual process of making the item was far beyond the abilities of the average human. All Edward had to do was place the device on the vault and it would go about unlocking the mechanisms for him. It was almost too easy.

Edward walked up to the vault door, he placed a hand on the cold metal before turning to Dirk and taking the bag that was stretched out to him. After Edward had taken the bag, he told Dirk to look around the bank, to make sure that every person was in check. He didn't want anybody alerting the police, or worse the batman, although Edward expected that somehow the bat already knew what was going on and was on his way.

Edward removed the device from the bag and placed it on the vault door, typing in the 6-digit code needed to set up the procedure for unlocking the door. Once he locked in the commands, Edward started the device up, brightening up as he heard the symphony that was a perfectly made machine at work. Turning away from the vault, Edward found himself smacking into a surprisingly solid straw covered chest.

Edward was almost certain his heart had stopped, but he knew that wasn't possible because he still appeared to be alive. Right in front of him was Jonathan Crane. What unnerved Edward most about how close Jonathan had been behind him, was that he had not noticed that the man had been there even though he had probably been there the entire time, watching Edward so close he could have licked his neck if he had desired. Edward was rather glad he hadn't.

The Riddler went to take a step back from Jonathan, but found this failed as the man followed him until Edward's back was against the vault door, his face just right of his own device. Jonathan had already been very effective at terrifying Edward, but now that the Scarecrow was practically looming over Edward as he cowered against the vault door, he realised that Jonathan could have done a lot worse.

Jonathan leaned down to Edward, his burlap covered mask brushed against the side of Edward's cheek. Edward heard Jonathan inhale deeply and then sigh lightly against his ear. He was pretty sure the man had just sniffed his hair. Edward wasn't sure if he should take that as a compliment, especially since the sigh sounded quite blissful.

Jonathan's body rose back to his previous height so, a now flustered, Edward could look into the cold blue eyes of the master of fear through the gaps in his burlap mask. A million thoughts were racing through Edward's mind. Should he say something witty? Should he try to escape? Did he want to know why Crane had done that?

"I was wondering if, after the heist, you would give me the honour of going out to dinner with you. I booked a lovely venue at a small restaurant I heard you liked and…well I was hoping we could have a quiet evening together."

Edward's mind stopped. One of the few times it ever did. He didn't know what to think, he didn't understand. Crane had yet again managed to throw a curve ball and knock over everything Edward thought he had known about the man. Was Crane asking him on a date? The Jonathan Crane? The 'romance is foolish and for the weak' Jonathan Crane? Edward responded in, what he believed to be, the most literate thing he could have said in the situation.

"…what?"

Jonathan signed, reaching up to pull off the burlap sack, revealing the true face of the Scarecrow, slender and bony, like the rest of the man, but with plump lips and unruly brown hair and, of course, those fearsomely blue eyes.

"Edward, I know I may not seem like the type to partake in such matters but I do enjoy your company more than others and I find your figure to be most pleasing. I felt it was appropriate that I at least ask you about a potential relationship or else I think I might actually come to regret my failure to do so. So, before you ask, yes I am asking you on a date." Crane finished his sentence, looking at Edward, patiently waiting for an answer.

"Erm…I must be honest with you Jonathan I never thought of you in that way, I guess I always assumed you would never be interested and so never turned my mind from it", Edward responded, trying to politely let Jonathan down. Sure he and Jonathan had a lot in common, but Edward wasn't sure about a relationship.

"Well now that you think of it, could it be possible?" Crane asked, still far too close to Edward.

"Jonathan it's a little out of blue, could I have time to think about it?" Edward retaliated, a little nervous as Jonathan seemed to be looming even closer to Edward, something Edward had not thought would be possible in the current situation, but apparently was.

"Well I guess so, but I did book the dinner for tonight, and I have all the paintings I wanted to give you at the ready. Are you sure you can't make up your mind a lot faster?"

Wait! What!? He had the paintings ready…what did he mean by that?

"Jonathan…by the paintings, do you mean the ones you stole recently? Did you steal those paintings for me?" Edward looked up at Jonathan, using all his strength to keep looking into the man's eyes, which was very difficult.

"Yes. I stole them so that I could give them to you as an apology for the little incident at Wayne enterprises. Personally I've never been interested in that sort of thing, but I know you take an interest in them and I thought you would appreciate them", Jonathan replied, as if it was a simple conclusion that Edward should have been able to reach on his own.

"Jonathan, I'm…honoured that you would do that for me…thank you…" Edward was struggling to find the right words. He was flattered. No-one had ever stolen something entirely with him in mind, and he had to admit that it was a pleasant feeling.

As Edward fumbled for words, he felt a pair of chapped lips fall over his own. Edward's eyes widened as Crane continued the kiss, he appeared quite desperate in his efforts, as if he had been wanting to do this for a long time and now that he had finally been able to, he could no longer hold himself back. Edward pushed Jonathan away, but he couldn't help notice how hot his face felt, the pleasant feeling in the base of his stomach or the way Crane ran his own tongue over his lips as if trying to taste Edward's lips on his own.

"Jonathan, we are in a bank!" Edward exclaimed, he felt like he should protest to the fact that Crane had not waited for Edward's permission to kiss him, but the sensation Edward received from the kiss had been extremely pleasant and he felt like the bank robbery was a more concerning matter at the time.

Jonathan starred at Edward; his eyes held a hunter like glint to them and accommodated the slight carnivorous grin the man was wearing.

"I know we are in a bank, but you look very good in that suit of yours. Would you like me to stop?"

Edward looked at the device by his head, which still had a couple of minutes left before it would allow them to enter the bank vault. He felt the fading feeling of Crane's lips against his own, and the pleasure in the pit of his stomach that had lessened but was still present through the whole conversation. It had been a long time since anyone had shown an active interest in being with Edward like this for longer than a one-night stand, and while he was still nervous around Crane, a voice in his head was loudly screaming at him, saying if he didn't give Crane a chance he would be missing something. Edward returned his gaze to Crane's, which was somehow easier this time, now that Edward knew there was lust hidden somewhere in there.

Edward wrapped his arms around Jonathan's neck, his right hand rose to place fingers in Crane's hair, allowing Edward to pull his head down to connect their lips again. As their lips made contact, Jonathan let out another relieved sigh and then proceeded to push his mouth against Edward's, causing warmth to rise from the bottom of Edward's stomach.

As their lips moved together, Edward noticed that Crane was not bad at kissing for someone who claims to have little experience. He sucked Edward's bottom lip between his own, making Edward shiver a little. A wet tongue ran against Edward's lips and he opened them wider to accept Jonathan. He felt the other man's tongue enter his mouth, feeling it run over the roof of his mouth and push against his own tongue. Jonathan's kiss was a little sloppy, but it wasn't the worse kiss Edward had ever had, and it didn't ruin the overall experience for Edward.

Edward sucked on Jonathan's tongue, before bearing his teeth and lightly nibbling the older man's bottom lip, causing Jonathan to let out a low groan. Jonathan separated their lips, a string of saliva remaining between them, until Jonathan licked his mouth. He moved his lips to Edward's neck, lightly sucking and biting at the exposed skin that he could reach. Edward felt himself shudder as pleasure ran down his spine, his neck had always been sensitive and he loved when his partners took the initiative to find that out for themselves.

Jonathan seemed to have noticed the effect his mouth was having on Edward, because he suddenly reached his hands forward, which had previously been resting on the vault door, to Edward's buttoned up shirt, removing the shirt slowly. While he continued to attack Edward's neck, Crane looked up at Edward from where he was nibbling at his collar, looking for any signs of insecurity, but Edward seemed perfectly content to let Jonathan continue with his planned course of action.

Jonathan's mouth began moving down Edward's chest, journeying from his neck to his collar bone, nibbling there briefly and sucking a large hickey mark that Edward could, luckily, cover. He went further down to Edward's nipples that were quite erect after Jonathan's previous actions and placed his lips over the left nipple, while one hand played with the right. His other hand went further down to lightly stroke over the slight bulge that Edward had gained through the process.

"Ah!" Edward let out a surprised moan, and the hands he had, one still in Jonathan's hair, the other in his own, tightened their grip. He watched Jonathan flinch and lift the hand from his nipple to attempt to get Edward to loosen his grip, however he didn't stop his ministrations, continuing to suck and bite Edward's nipple in his mouth, rolling it over with his tongue and lightly blowing on it to torture Edward, and undoing the belt of Edward's trousers to allow his hand to slip inside so that he could rub Edward over his boxers.

"Sorry", Edward panted, as his hand was removed from Jonathan's hair and then let go to fall at his side. Jonathan merely looked up at Edward, while continuing to show it hadn't been that much of an issue.

Jonathan's lips and hands left Edward's body as the man raised himself back to his height. He looked Edward in the eye, his face a little red, but Edward knew that his was worse.

"Do you mind if I keep going?" Jonathan asked. Edward blushed further, his face feeling burning hot. He nodded his head, still panting from Jonathan's earlier treatment.

Jonathan gave Edward a small smile, which Edward guessed would be the closest thing he had ever received from Jonathan as a sign of his happiness. Maybe he should do this more often if it meant he could get the man to smile more. He looked better when he smiled.

The sinful hand was back in his trousers, running over his erection through the boxers. Edward moaned lightly and pushed into Jonathan's hand. Long, thin fingers reached past his boxers to finally touch Edward's cock, and Edward rewarded Jonathan with a lounder groan of pleasure for the skin-on-skin contact.

Jonathan pulled Edward's cock out of the confinements of his pants, which relieved Edward of some of the pressure, but there was still this throbbing in his stomach that wouldn't leave. Edward looked down to see one of Jonathan's hands wrapped around his cock, while the other of Jonathan's hands were wrapped around his own, which Crane had also removed from his burlap costume, for reasons that Edward could understand.

Edward watched Crane begin to rub his hands up and down both of their cocks, Crane stopping only to lick his hands to make the action smoother, which Edward appreciated. Edward began to pant harder, the sensation of having someone else help him find release was enjoyable for him, and the way Crane's fingers felt on his dick were very pleasant for Edward.

He continued to watch Crane's hands, before he looked up at his eyes. Crane was looking right at his face, as if trying to read what felt good for Edward. Crane himself was flushed, but his eyes still held that predatory glint. Edward's panting, vulnerability and those soft green eyes seemed to be too much for Jonathan, as he surged forward, placing a rough kiss against Edward's lips. His hands sped up over the two rogues cocks, before then placing both together, allowing him to rub them alongside each other.

At this Edward lost the ability to replicate the kiss that Crane was attempting to complete, he couldn't find enough air to breathe, Crane's actions taking it away too quickly. Eventually Crane gave up on the kiss and lowered his head to Edward's neck, leaving hickeys and bite marks along his throat. Edward's head fell back and hit the vault door. That was going to hurt once the Edward came down from the pleasure high that Jonathan was giving him.

Jonathan growled into Edward's throat, and his hand sped up, sending bolts of pleasure up and down Edward's spine. Edward's toes curled and his hand reached out to painfully grip Crane's hair again as he let out a loud moan and finished over Jonathan's hand. He felt Jonathan continue to rub their two dicks together as he too finished in his own hand.

Finally, Jonathan removed his hand from their softening cocks, and awkwardly looked around for a place to remove the cum that now covered his hand. Even though Edward was still in a post-orgasm high, he still found Jonathan's confusion funny, and proceeded to let out slight chuckles between breathes.

Jonathan looked back at Edward, his hair was incredibly ruffled, which Edward felt a little guilty for, but at the same time he was proud because Jonathan looked better with his hair like that. He gave Edward a slight smile, and looked as if he was about to make some comment on Edward's dishevelled appearance, but before he could gunshots rang out in the main area of the bank.

Batman was here.


	5. Cast aside

Edward finished making his cup of tea, before taking a sip of the boiling hot liquid and moving over to the dining table in his hideout that was still littered with his attempts to understand Jonathan Crane's recent criminal career. Looking at the newspaper clippings that Edward had attempted to tie together made Edward feel foolish, now that he could see clearly the ties within the crimes. He guessed he should have liked that considering that was how riddles usually worked, however normally Edward already knew the answer.

"Boss. Are you okay? You were gonna tell me what 'appened". Dirk's voice jolted Edward out of his mind and back to reality. At the dining table sat Dirk, who at the moment was staring at Edward with oblivious eye. Edward sighed and rubbed one hand over his eyes before taking another sip of his tea, wincing slightly at the burn. The last hours had been very fast paced, and Edward had yet to sleep it off, the main reason for that being the henchman now sitting at this table, adamant on receiving the details of the bank robbery from Edward's perspective.

"Well Dirk, what is there to say? Batman showed up, as he so regularly does, and basically ruined the whole evening". Edward would have been lying if he said he wasn't annoyed at Batman for showing up to the bank robbery, although Dirk probably believed that was because it caused Edward to miss out on a massive score of money, but in truth Edward was more annoyed about the sudden ending Batman's appearance caused in terms of his evening with one Jonathan Crane, although he would never tell Dirk the truth, nor any of his other henchmen. It was a fact that even Edward himself was not fond of acknowledging, considering the recent events that tied him to the Scarecrow. Yet, at that moment in time Edward found himself more down in the dumps because he was unable to go with Jonathan to the dinner that the rogue had apparently prepared in Edward's honour.

"Yeah boss, I know the bat showed up, we all ran to the van once he starting throwing punches, but no-one saw you and scarecrow leave the bank, yet somehow you both came out of nowhere with a couple of batarangs after ya". Edward glared at Dirk; the man was becoming a bit too smart for Edward's liking. He would be having some words with Dirk's family if this kept up.

"Fine. If you must know Dirk, Jonathan and I were simply waiting for the vault doors to open when the batman entered. Simply waiting is all, nothing else of course…anyhow just as the vault was about to unlock we heard the gunshots which told us that batman had arrived on the scene". Edward was not entirely lying about the circumstances, but there was not a chance in hell that he would tell Dirk what he and Jonathan had actually been up to, Edward would lose a vast majority of his reputation.

"He headed straight your way boss. Did you not have to fight him?"

Edward turned suddenly to give Dirk his full attention.

"I hope I do not have to remind you Dirk that you are a henchmen and should learn to keep your nose out of other people's business. Anymore of these questions and I shall have to pay that wife of yours a visit, do I make myself clear?"

Dirk sat up, a look of panic on his face, Edward's threat had clearly hit its mark as the henchman began to quickly spew out an apology to the Riddler.

"No sir…sorry, you don't have to visit my wife…I…I won't ask any more questions sir."

Edward smirked at the control he showed over Dirk.

"That's right. However, to answer your question, yes I did have a minor scuffle with the bat as did Crane but I certainly gave him a good hit on his bat eared head with my cane which incapacitated him enough to allow the both of us to escape. Yes, it was clear I was the victor in that battle."

Dirk was still looking at Edward with fear, but there was also a slight look of admiration as Edward told Dirk that he had actually managed a tussle with the bat and walked away as the victor, I even for a small moment.

However, Edward knew his tale was not entirely true. Yes, both him and Crane had realised the Batman was in the building when they heard gunshots, and it was true that they did have a small fight with the bat, but the idea that Edward had walked away the victor of the fight was a lie.

~4 hours earlier, in the bank~

The batman was here.

Edward believed he responded in an appropriate manner to the knowledge that the Batman had just arrived on the scene. In other words he had turned to stare into Jonathan's eyes with a look of pure terror and had then proceeded to push the other man so that he could get himself back into a state of decency, or at least in a state that he could proudly show to the batman.

He did this all this while quietly muttering every offensive term he could think of, which was quite a few.

Jonathan appeared to be quite calm, considering the circumstances, quickly but effectively getting his costume back to the original state it had been before he had decided to get his straw covered paws over Edward. He looked over to the Riddler, who was doing a final check over his outfit, making sure everything was perfect for when the bat finally found them.

Edward was ready not a moment too soon, just as he had finished getting ready the Batman leapt through the doors to the vault and noticed the two costumed criminals. He stood slowly, revealing his full height and glaring at the two of them. The air was tense as there was a wait for who would speak first.

Edward made an elected decision that he would be the best person to speak.

"Ah! I see you finally managed to arrive, I'd say you are getting slow Batman, are the years of too many blows to the head finally getting to you? Of course it may just be that I'm just getting faster…or perhaps it's a bit of both." Edward turned to Jonathan who had not moved from his spot where he was watching the Batman, waiting for any sign that the caped crusader would lunge at either of the criminals.

"I would hate to rain on your parade Riddler, but at the moment I would say it doesn't matter." Jonathan replied smoothly. He took a calculated step forward, his hand reaching for the small scythe that he always had hidden in his costume. The bat also took a small step forward, readying himself for the expected attack that would come from the psychologist.

"You two need to stand down, I promise if you give up now I won't hurt you that much." The bat spoke, his voice quite gruff.

Scarecrow let out a low chuckle, one that would have chilled Edward to the bone if he didn't know Crane was on his side, and pulled out the scythe.

"I'm sorry to say Batman, but I don't believe we are going to come quietly any time soon".

The Batman grunted in response and suddenly leapt forward, sending 3 batarangs towards Crane, causing him to duck away from Edward. Batman followed Crane, seeming to be more concerned with the scythe Crane still held in his hand, then Edward, who was slowly creeping up behind the two.

Crane swung the scythe, managing to slash at the bats cape, but unable to actually land a blow on the body of the bat. He felt a hit to his leg before he found himself looking up at the hulking black mass that was the batman. He expected a blow to come forth from the man.

'THWAK!'

The Scarecrow looked up in surprise to see Edward standing over him, clinging to the remains of his cane, which was now broken. The batman was to his side clinging to his head. Jonathan leapt up and grabbed Edward's hand, shaking him out of the stupor he appeared to have gotten himself in.

"Come on you fool, run now while we have the chance!"

Jonathan pushed Edward forward, the two of them running for the entrance of the bank. Briefly, Edward captured a glimpse of the hostages, no longer at gunpoint, sitting around the bank. Many of them looked up quickly as the two villains sprinted out of the bank, and Edward remembered hoping none of them would have the guts to try and stop them. Throughout the entire run, which was probably only a couple of seconds yet felt like hours at that moment, Edward could feel the bat on their heels.

Edward was first to the bank doors, and he thrust them open with far more strength then he needed. Sprinting out of the doors, he saw the van with his men inside waiting for him and blessed Dirk for not having left him. Edward felt a breeze go past his ear and ducked to the right, still running at full pelt to the van. Beside him he heard Jonathan grunt in pain, but did not stop to check the man was alright as he heard the Scarecrow's footsteps continue to his own van.

Reaching for the door of the van, Edward yanked it open and instructed Dirk to drive before slamming the door behind him. Dirk responded quickly, and had already pulled away from the bank. When Edward looked out of the window, he saw how close those pointy ears had gotten, as the batman was standing right where the van had been only seconds ago. Edward had been lucky today, he hoped Jonathan had been too.

~Back to the present~

Edward turned away from his henchman, thinking about bank robbery. He couldn't get Crane out of his head. He was worried about the psychologist. The man had not called to tell Edward that he had made it out safely, nor to check Edward was okay. It had been 4 hours!

Edward shook his head, he needed to stop thinking about him. He knew that any sign of remorse or weakness would be exposed by the rogues, and he could not let Crane be his weakness. Despite how much he had enjoyed the little taster at the bank, he knew he could not let this continue. He couldn't become what Jonathan appeared to desire from him. Yet, he felt himself wishing he could be.

Edward felt his phone ringing in his pocket and couldn't help the sudden burst of excitement that arrived in his chest. He quickly hurried Dirk out of his hideout, before rushing to pull his phone out of his pocket.

"Yes, hello, this is the Riddler", he exclaimed, trying to calm his breathing, to make it seem like he hadn't rushed to his phone.

"O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay! Hello Edward, I was so hoping you would be up".

Edward sighed, he knew that voice all too well, and even if he didn't, the Alice in Wonderland quote would have immediately informed him as to whom had called him.

"Hello Jervis. I heard you were on the run from Batman at the moment. How is that going?"

"Oh, absolutely wonderful! You and Jonathan are now top of Batman's list so I can now have a bit more freedom. I was wondering if you would be interested in a job with me."

Edward considered the offer. It would be wise to get back into it running. Also another robbery after Crane would get his mind off things, as long as Jervis didn't start getting a bit touchy as well. Yes, Edward decided, another job would be much needed.

"Of course Jervis, I would be glad to".

~A couple weeks later~

Edward's hideout was full of junk. That was the only way he could describe the number of random items that littered his favourite hideout. Edward couldn't even remember picking up a majority of these items, yet here they were. The items were not even things Edward particularly liked, such as a psychology book and a pair of shoes that Edward would not let himself be seen dead in that were not even his size.

The past couple of weeks Edward had gone on multiple heists, trying to get his mind off of Jonathan. He had done some of his own, but mainly he had paired himself with Hatter or Two-face. At first he had done them to keep him from waiting impatiently at his phone for a call, but then as the days went by the heists were to make him forget about Jonathan's rejection.

Edward was furious with the psychologist. Doing something like that, getting Edward all wrapped up and then pulling it all out from him. Oh, the riddler wouldn't let this slide. However, he was going to be careful. He would cool down, and then devise the perfect revenge for Jonathan.

Still, looking around the room, it appeared Jonathan had gotten to Edward in a way many hadn't. He knew all the items that littered his once clean hideout were things that Jonathan would like. The shoes were the size Edward estimated his feet would be, the book was on the psychology of fear, and he had even found a small necklace that he had thought Jonathan would like. Nothing too over the top, just a simple black string with a beautiful crow attached, just the right length that the crow should rest at the end of Jonathan's neck.

The Riddler was sat on the floor of his hideout, surrounded by gifts for Jonathan. He felt a sob go through him. He was meant to be stronger than this, he wasn't supposed to be so easy. Why did he let the damn Scarecrow get to him?

Edward was now fully crying, he felt so ashamed with himself. He had always held his pride as highly as his mind, and now he felt like Jonathan had taken his pride from him. On his TV, the news was playing his latest crime. He rubbed his eyes and smiled slightly as the reporter called his criminal activities a serious threat to Gotham. At least he could still feel like a threat to Gotham.

The screen changed quickly, as 'BREAKING NEWS' flashed on the screen. The Scarecrow was reported being seen in Ace Chemical Plant, and the batman is believed to have just arrived on the scene, speaking to Gordon. At the time, they didn't know what the Scarecrow was going to do, but they were rooting for batman.

The riddler took one look at the state of his hideout and knew where he was going. Jonathan Crane had some answers to give. Patience be damned.


	6. A well deserved explanation

Edward had to admit that making quick decisions had never been a talent of his. He much preferred to wait, look at all the variables and then come up with a well thought out solution. There had only been a few times where he had felt so enraged by the actions of another that he had decided to simply act in the moment, most of them had been because of the insufferable bat, but now he felt burning anger at the actions of The Scarecrow.

As he drove rapidly through the roads of Gotham, ignoring the honks of its citizens as he rushed past. Their destinations didn't matter. They should thank their stars that Edward didn't get out of the car to end their miserable little existences.

During the rush to the Ace chemical plant, Edward realised he had not only forgotten to bring any weapon of choice but he had also forgotten to get into his Riddler outfit. He stopped the car suddenly feeling a shiver of cold down his spine at the realisation. While his mind still swirled with the idea of gaining an explanation from Jonathan, it also considered the risk if the man decided he would rather Edward relive a couple nightmares. Furthermore, the report had said that the bat was expected to be there, could Edward really let himself be seen facing the bat without his costume?

Multiple police cars flashed past Edward's, their sirens load and obnoxious to him. Could he face Jonathan in his current situation? Yes, Edward decided, he damn well could.

~At the Ace Chemical Plant~

Jonathan extracted the chemical products he needed for his latest batch of fear toxin with fine precision. He knew it was essential he did not drop them, not only would it be bad for his body, but these chemicals were in short supply and it would likely take him a long time to find another large batch like the chemical plant would so kindly be supplying him with tonight.

The Scarecrow successfully transferred the dangerous chemicals from their place in the reactor core to his hand held safety containers. He couldn't help the smile that passed over his face and the low chuckle he let out to himself; oh these chemicals could be just what he needed for a whole new batch of fear for Gotham. It would be glorious.

He knew The Batman was in the Chemical Plant, and he was almost certain he was slowly finding a way around Jonathan's henchmen and fear traps, which meant he had to make his grand escape with his prize before any irritating tiny mammals got in the way of his latest scheme.

Jonathan grabbed the containers, making a final check that they were secure, before turning to the direction of his escape. Some part of him was surprised that the bat was not already standing there waiting for him. As passed through the corridors of the chemical plant, his mind wondered to Edward. After the bank robbery Jonathan had found himself with a very serious bat related injury. One of the bats pointed eared batarangs had found its mark directly in the soft flesh of Jonathan's shoulder. The batarang itself hadn't been very difficult to take out, but the wound it left had become infected, although Jonathan was rather ashamed to admit that it had been his fault for not taking care of himself properly.

After a couple of weeks of sending his henchmen out to get him the drugs he needed to fix the burning heat of his shoulder, Jonathan had been able to get himself close to his old self. Just in time for when he had planned to steal the shipment of chemicals that had been planned to be delivered for the new reactor core in Ace Chemicals.

Jonathan knew he should have told Edward what had happened, likely because the man would see him running around the Chemical Plant and believe Jonathan had thrown him away, but he had convinced himself that it would be a simple hit and run and then he would contact him after and set everything straight. Now he was starting to regret that decision, especially when he left the chemical plant only to find the man angrily waiting by his van. The man shouldn't have looked intimidating to Jonathan, especially since he appeared to have no weapon and was dressed in pyjama bottoms and a loose shirt, but his eyes screamed of hatred that Jonathan did not look forward to meeting. Maybe taking on the bat would have been a better idea.

~Back to Edward's point of view~

The police were swarming the Ace Chemical Plant, which was to be expected considering a well-known criminal was inside currently committing some form of criminal activity, although Edward expected many of them wouldn't be around if the bat wasn't rumoured to be there. 'Gotham police department, more like The Batman's biggest fan club', Edward thought.

He knew he couldn't possibly get in unnoticed if he tried the front, but the police numbers dwindled considerably towards the back of the plant. 'What a load of imbeciles, don't they know you can easily escape through the back?'

Edward drove his car round the back, trying to go at a reasonable speed to make it look like he was some foolish passer-by who was trying to get a look at the action, and not just some criminal that was attempting to not get spotted by the police. Needless to say the police where so tied up in trying to get a glimpse of their idol that none of them spotted the rather easy catch of one of batman's most notorious rogues that they could have gotten on their record. Oh well, poor them.

He parked the car up and jumped out, immediately spotting a very familiar van. It was the one Jonathan had used during the bank heist, which meant Jonathan was still at the chemical plant. Edward decided he would wait at the van for Jonathan, mainly because he had no desire to go walking around a very dangerous chemical plant in his pyjamas, but also because he knew he was more likely to find Jonathan if he stayed by the man's escape route.

Of course, Edward was right, confirmed when, in a few moments, Jonathan came rushing out of the chemical plant holding some sort of chunky suitcase.

Edward watched Jonathan turn towards his escape vehicle and so subsequently also turn towards Edward. Through the rogues' burlap sack, he saw his blue eyes widen as they fell on his form. He felt a swell of pride in his chest when they seemed to look at him with apprehension and he almost missed the quick little flick back towards the chemical plant, as if Jonathan had considered running from him.

It seemed Jonathan had realised that running back in the plant would not stop Edward following him, because he fully turned towards Edward and began to move slowly forward. Edward wouldn't say the man looked afraid, due to Jonathan's experiments Edward wasn't even sure the man could feel fear anymore, but the calculating look that lay in The Scarecrow's eyes was most certainly the closest Edward had ever seen the man get to fear.

"Hello Edward, how pleasant to see you here, how have you been?" Jonathan started; testing the waters between them, his eyes kept darting back to the chemical plant, but this was probably to keep an eye out for the bat.

Edward rolled his eyes, when he had left his home he had wanted nothing more than an argument with Jonathan, but the drive had given him some time to cool down and while he still wanted to scream for an answer from the straw clad man, he knew that the Ace Chemical Plant was not the best place to do so, especially with the police and with Batman on their tail.

"Hello Jonathan, would you mind coming home with me and explaining why you believed it was okay to disappear for so long after our little moment?" Edward replied his voice heavily tinted with sarcasm.

The way Jonathan stopped inching towards his van suggested he knew that Edward was not asking. If he refused he was aware that this could go sideways, likely with Edward screaming for an answer while they were getting dragged away by the police back into Arkham Asylum. The Scarecrow sighed to himself.

"Edward I was going to contact you once this was over", Jonathan had swept his arm to the side when he had said 'this' as if to indicate he had meant once the whole stealing chemicals thing was over.

"Well that's so kind of you to think about me when you were oh so busy but I'm here now so you don't have to call me. GET IN THE CAR JONATHAN!" It was clear Edward was losing his patience, so Jonathan nodded and raised his hands, as if to calm him, before walking past the man toward the green car he could see parked on the road. This was going to be a long drive.

~After the car journey~

The ride had been silent, which Edward suspected it would be. Tension had filled the drive, thick and suffocating. Jonathan had frustratingly appeared to have remained unfazed by the whole drive, but to Edward it had been nerve wracking and he knew it had shown. He had expected Jonathan to attack him or try to twist his words at him, as was his way, yet the man had simply sat there next to him and waited for drive to be over.

When they finally arrived at Edward's hideout, Jonathan got out of the car before Edward and, as if he had accepted that they had to talk, walked to the door and waited for Edward to put in the series of riddle answers needed to unlock the door. At this point Edward wished he had just stuck with a simple key lock, because he found himself struggling to concentrate on the riddles needed to get the door open with Jonathan waiting at his side, expressionless.

However, he was the riddler, and so while he was not at his best he still managed to unlock the door and get both of the rogues inside. His hideout was still cluttered with useless items, and that made Jonathan stop to examine the hoard of junk Edward was collecting. Meanwhile Edward felt a blush arising on his face and hoped Crane wouldn't ask why he had a pile of shoes that were far too big for him in the corner of his living room.

Edward simply walked past the living room and dining table, straight into the kitchen. He crossed his arms and waited for Jonathan, he knew the man was smart enough to read Edward's posture, of course just because Crane knew what he wanted didn't mean he would go along with it. The man had a habit of dashing round the topic, much to Edward's frustrations.

Jonathan put the briefcase down on the dining table, not even asking if he could Edward noted, before turning to Edward and giving him his full attention. His eyes flicked to the crossed arms and then up to the scowl that heavily fell on The Riddler's face.

"Edward I would like to start by saying I had no intention to disappear for a while when I asked you to go on that bank heist", Jonathan started.

"Well that's nice to know, yet that's exactly what happened." Edward replied, cutting off Jonathan's next sentence. Crane simply sighed, frustrated at Edward's impatience.

"Please Edward, don't interrupt me. If you keep butting in with pointless comments we will never get to the end of this without one us gaining a head injury."

Edward huffed; he raised his head in pride and refused to drop eye contact from Jonathan.

"Fine! Continue!" Edward swept his hand forward to gesture for Jonathan to continue.

"When we were leaving the bank my shoulder got hit my one of batman's batarangs. I hate to praise the insufferable vigilante but it was a good shot, the wound was very deep, although the actual batarang itself came out quite easily." Jonathan felt his shoulder itch at the thought of the scar that now laid there, one more of many. He reached back with his right arm to scratch it, pulling away before he could irritate it.

A look of concern swept over Edward's face, he had been hit by many of those batarangs and knew how painful they could be. Jonathan had broken the eye contact between them to look into the living room, he then continued.

"I would have been fine, but I admit that in my haste to be healed I neglected the proper care of such a deep wound. It got infected. That was why I disappeared for a while Edward. My men went out to get me medicine to cool down the fever, but I myself could not leave and I could not contact you." Finally Crane's eyes returned to Edward's as if to scan his face for acceptance.

"I'm sincerely regretted not being able to make contact with you sooner, I was being honest when I said I intended to tonight".

Edward nodded his head slowly, he had already taken in Jonathan's tale and felt a wash of relief through him that the man was not ignoring him, and that he had been able to pull through from an infection. Edward knew that without medical care, it could have been more serious. Edward started to fiddle with his hands, slightly embarrassed now by the rash way he had acted

"Well I'm glad you are okay. Sorry I dragged you here like that."

Jonathan had removed his burlap sack in the car and Edward blushed a little darker hen the man ran a hand through his hair and gave Edward a slight smile.

"It's fine Edward. I knew you would likely take this the wrong way. I bet you thought I was ignoring you. Did you honestly believe someone like me would be looking for an easy lay?" A slight victorious grin spread onto Jonathan's face as he witnessed the look of shame on Edward's face. Yes that was exactly what Edward had thought.

"Never mind now! It has all been dealt with. We can let it be and move on. You should probably get your dangerous chemicals home before something happens, and I have many things I need to do." Edward spoke rather quickly, gushing to get Jonathan out of his home so he could hide his red face.

Jonathan simply shrugged his shoulders, now appearing a lot calmer then he had been. He simply gave Edward another small smile, not that any of these smiles felt safe.

"No. I don't have any places I need to be, and I'm sure you can take the time out of your busy schedule to tell me what's been happening with you." Jonathan moved forward slightly, his right hand reaching out slowly, silently asking for Edward to place his hand in there.

"Well, I guess, but I'm not sure, I am very busy you know. Lots of people need help with criminal activity these days."

Jonathan's smile widened at Edward's words.

"Well you are the best in the business. I would certainly call you if I needed help with a heist."

Edward immediately caught the hint in Jonathan's words and became very aware of his state of undress. He coughed slightly; pulling his arm away from Jonathan's which had gone to grab him.

"Well, if you put the kettle on, I will go and change quickly." Edward turned to leave and get changed but found a thin arm prevented him from going very far. He felt breathe go across his ear and knew that Jonathan had pulled himself close to Edward.

"Mr. Nigma, did you steal those items in your living room for me?" Damn! Edward had hoped Crane wouldn't ask, or at least would wait until he came up with a legitimate excuse why he would have all this stuff. Edward swallowed slowly.

"I might have, but don't think for a second it's cause you are better than me." Edward replied, trying to hide the blush on his face, which was now darker than he ever believed his face could go and he was sure the blush had gone past his neck as well if the heat over his body was any indication.

Crane let out a low groan, as if pleased by Edward's response, which did nothing to help Edward's embarrassment. Then Jonathan wrapped another arm around Edward's waist, pulled him in closer, and pounced on Edward.


	7. The final conclusion

Edward gasped as their lips fell against each other. Jonathan's arms pulled him in tighter, their bony grip unlikely to let him loose as Jonathan deepened the kiss. Edward supposed this was like last time, with Jonathan sweeping him away using his unexpected talent in this area of expertise.

The power behind the kiss had forced Edward to tilt his head back slightly, while the taller man had to lean forward at an equal angle reach the areas he desired in Edward's mouth. Jonathan's hands were resting at the bottom of Edward's spine, making soothing movements, in complete contrast to Jonathan's tongue which was aggressively plundering Edward's mouth.

A small line of saliva began falling down the side of Edward's mouth and he moaned lightly at how filthy it felt. He tried to rub his tongue against Jonathan's, determined to show the other that he could be skilled too, but the man simply pulled Edward's tongue into his own mouth and sucked down on it, causing Edward to moan once again and break the kiss to pant for air.

Edward's hands had been resting tightly on the tops of Jonathan's shoulders but at the sight of him, still looking presentable, Edward's hands rose to clutch to Jonathan's hair, messing up the brown locks and ruining Crane's self-image, not that the man really cared at the moment in time.

Edward pulled them back in for a deep kiss, but Crane swept to the right and instead played with Edward's neck, nibbling and sucking on the flesh to create red marks that would remind Edward of Crane when he awoke the next day. Edward's hands tightened their grip in Jonathan's hair, a habit the Riddler couldn't seem to prevent, and he rested his forehead on Crane's shoulder as he panted and moaned through Jonathan's treatment.

Jonathan forced the smirked that threatened to burst onto his face at bay as he rose from Edward's neck to view the damage he had made on the Riddler. Edward's lips were red and swollen from Jonathan's kisses and his neck held multiple bruises, but it was his eyes that cause lightning down Crane's spine as they were glazed over in lust as he stared expectedly at Jonathan.

"Edward, would you be so kind as to show me where your bedroom is?" Jonathan inquired, failing to hold back his smirk any longer at the conditions of the man in front of him.

Edward's eyes lost a little of their glaze as he understood Jonathan's words, nodding and turning to walk the man to his private room. Before he had fully turned, however, Jonathan quickly rushed in for another kiss, this one not as heated as the ones before. Crane then drew back and made an indication with his hand for Edward to continue.

When they arrived at the door for Edward's room, he pushed the door open slowly and expected Jonathan to immediately continue his actions; instead he simply entered the room and looked around, as if taking inventory. Edward was hard in his trousers and the casual act by Crane was almost too much for him in his current state, he needed some relief.

While Crane had his back turned and was observing some of the pictures Edward had hung in his room, he felt two arms slide around his stomach and a heated body fit against his back. Slowly the hips began rubbing against him and he could feel Edward's contained dick slide over his trousers.

He turned in the Riddler's arms so now their hips fitted together, bringing their dicks side by side as Edward continued the motions of his hips, his head resting on Jonathan's shoulder again.

"Really Edward, could you not contain yourself while a guest viewed your home?" Crane asked, however, despite the question his breathe was coming out short showing that he was affected by Edward's actions.

Edward looked up at Crane, viewing the man's messed up hair and open mouthed breathing as he began grinding even harder against the straw-man's penis. Crane ran a hand through Edward's hair, looking into the eyes of the other rogue

"Guess it can't be helped then". Jonathan suddenly lifted Edward by hips, moving towards Edward's large plush and probably expensive bed that the man had placed in the centre of the room. He gently placed Edward in the middle, before kneeling just over the hips of the other man reaching behind him to remove his shoes and socks.

As Jonathan did so Edward could not help but watch the man. He was shocked at how quickly the relationship between them had progressed. Briefly he thought that maybe if they progressed this quickly, they could also fall apart just as quickly, but before the thought had enough time to fully settle in Edward's mind Jonathan was leaning down again to kiss him, as he lifted Edward's hips towards his own to continue their grinding.

Pleasure shot up Edward's spine, and he was sure he was going to burst at Jonathan's actions, his kisses becoming more moans and struggling breathes as his pleasure gained. Jonathan lowered his hips to the bed before he could cum, and slid down Edward's legs to remove his shoes. He then slowly slide up, his hands roaming over Edward's legs along with his nose and mouth which also slowly took a path up Edward's legs.

Edward bit his lips as Jonathan's face fell over his dick, the psychologist glanced up at Edward from his crotch and then whispered over his sensitive area.

"Now Edward, don't hold back anything from me", Edward could only nod as his hands clenched against the bedding at his sides and his lips fell open to let out a soft moan.

Teasingly, Jonathan's hands slide over Edward's bulge, slowly finding the tops of his casual trousers and undoing the button and zip that kept them against Edward's hips. He slid them down Edward's legs, removing them from the Riddler. His lips returned to Edward's crotch, placing them over the heat of Edward's dick and letting his lips rub against it while lightly sucking on the area.

Edward's grips on the blankets tightened further and he let out a loud shout at Jonathan's actions. His legs attempted to tense up and hold Jonathan's head in position, but the Scarecrow simply raised his hands and pulled Edward's legs back down to the bed, not stopping in his actions on Edward's private parts.

Again Edward felt this heat rising at the bottom of his stomach, and he let out a small whimper of Jonathan's name, as the man released his dick from the wet confines of his mouth. Edward knew his underwear would be wet with Jonathan's saliva, and he couldn't help the sigh of relief as his boxers were pulled down, freeing his cock from the confines.

Edward had never imagined Jonathan with his lips around his cock but now that he looked down and saw the Scarecrow with his dick in his mouth, looking up at him through his beautifully feminine eyelashes with his mystifying blue eyes and his red lips stretched over his cock, he couldn't think of where else he would desire the psychologist. The man easily took in Edward's dick, his tongue gliding over his hot flesh and his throat swallowed around Edward.

Edward's moans had increased by tenfold by Jonathan's ridiculous talent for blow-jobs, and he raised a hand to bite down on to try and prevent the streams of noises falling from his lips.

The sensation of pleasurable heat left Edward's dick as a hand pulled Edward's from his mouth. He stared down into the blue eyes of Jonathan Crane who glared at him slightly from between his legs.

"I told you not to hold anything back from me Edward. Do you want me to stop?" Edward quickly shook his head, his hips thrusting in hopes to convince Jonathan to continue his actions and calm the heat in Edward's stomach.

"No please don't stop!" Jonathan simply smiled at the response. He lifted his head from between Edward's legs to look down at the man. He crawled back over Edward's stomach, going in for another aggressive kiss with Edward, while he began removing his own trousers. They were difficult to get out of because of the burlap material, but Jonathan did have experience in taking them off and on, which meant that he was able to remove them quite quickly despite all the attention he was placing into exploring Edward's mouth.

With Jonathan's penis finally removed from the confines of his trousers, he placed a hand around both of their hot members and slid his hand over them, rubbing them against each other. Jonathan's saliva made them rub much more smoothly against each other, and while the feeling of pleasure had not been as strong as it had been when Jonathan had been sucking his dick, the sensation still left Edward breathless.

"Do you have lubricant nearby?" Edward was jolted out of his own thoughts at Jonathan's words, but as he raised his eyes to view Crane's he saw the main was staring at him intently.

"Yes, it's in the draw to your left". Jonathan nodded and leaned over Edward to reach for the bedside cabinet to the left of Edward's bed. Edward whined at the loss of pleasure when Jonathan removed his hands, but he knew it was essential.

Edward was not a highly sexual man, but he did have some experience and the one time he had tried without lubricant had taught him that it was always needed, no matter how frequently you had sex.

Jonathan returned to his position over Edward, his knees spaced either side of Edward's hips. In one hand he held the bottle of lubricant and in the other he had a condom. Jonathan placed the items to the left of Edwards hips before leaning back down to kiss Edward, their tongues sliding against each other. He broke the kiss briefly to stare intently at Edward.

"Do you wish to go all the way with me?" Edward nodded, he was so hard it was hurting him and he wanted to cum so badly.

"Edward I need an explicit statement of consent from you or I will not go any further." That surprised Edward's as he could see how much Jonathan desired him, it was hot and hard against his hip.

"Yes Jonathan. I want to have sex with you". Jonathan nodded, and continued their heated kisses, his tongue again entering Edward's mouth rubbing over the roof of his mouth and gliding against his teeth. Edward heard the click of the lube and knew that Jonathan had poured some on his hand. That still did not prepare him for the cold against his asshole, and he gasped at the sudden sensation.

"Sorry, would you prefer if I warmed it up first?" Jonathan asked, his hand leaving Edward's ass.

"No it's fine. Just took me by surprise is all." Edward replied, desperate for Jonathan's fingers to be inside him and to relieve him of some tension.

Jonathan's hand returned to his hole, and his lips returned to Edward's. As one hand massage around his asshole, the other hand was underneath his shirt tugging on his nipples. Edward knew that Jonathan's actions were to distract him from what was going on between his legs, and he silently thanked the other man for his actions.

Slowly Jonathan pushed one finger into Edward, feeling his single finger engulfed by the tight heat of Edward's ass. He let out a brief moan at the sensation, but Edward let out a loud sigh at his actions, relieved that his lower parts were finally gaining some attention.

Jonathan continued to rub his finger against the walls of Edward's ass, imagining the walls around his hard dick. Edward continued to let out little sighs at Jonathan's actions, the massaging motion did not feel unpleasant, although Edward did wish for more.

"Please Jonathan, put another one in" Edward begged, feeling ready for more from Crane.

Jonathan smiled lightly and pushed in another finger, he was surprised at how well the other man took it, but he did notice the slight flinch on Edward's face and knew that it hadn't been entirely effortless for Edward.

He repeated the process of massaging Edward's insides, his fingers spreading to stretch the tight muscles of Edward's walls. He pushed them in further, reaching deeper into Edward's ass, his fingers gently rubbed against Edward's prostate causing him to jolt and let out a loud moan.

Edward fell back against the blankets, his arousal had returned as Jonathan continued to lightly rub against his prostate. He couldn't hold any moans back as the shocks of pleasure ran down his back, He was sure his face had gone red with the heat that was now inside the room from their actions. Again Jonathan brushed against his prostate, and Edward let out one of his loudest moans yet. The sensation of Jonathan stretching him was pleasurable, but the feeling of him rubbing his prostate was another sensation altogether, and it was one that Edward would not hold out against.

Edward reached down to Jonathan, sure that if his actions continued Edward would cum before Jonathan could reap the benefits of his actions.

Jonathan looked at Edward to gain further consent, pleased when Edward nodded his head.

Adding more lubricant for the final finger, Jonathan pushed it inside. Edward hissed in slight pain but indicated to Jonathan to continue stretching him out. His head fell back against the blankets against as Jonathan's fingers spread and massaged his walls, Edward made sure not to clench around them, knowing it would not help Jonathan prepare him, but when Jonathan managed to press against his prostate again he couldn't help the way his body tensed at the lighting up his spine.

Edward relaxed again as Jonathan rubbed continuously on his prostate. The sensation felt so good to Edward, and he soon found himself panting and moaning Jonathan's name as the man prepared him.

"Do you think you're ready for me?" Jonathan breathed into his ear. Edward could tell the man had been affected as badly as he had by the preparation, and he gave Jonathan a deep kiss before letting the man continue playing with his body.

"Yes, it feels so good Jonathan. I need to cum so badly". Edward blushed slightly at his words, but it was true. His dick felt so hot and heavy, he needed release or he thought he might go even more insane then he already was.

"Oh dear Edward, your language is getting a bit explicit." Jonathan laughed lightly, as he removed his shirt and Edward's. He grabbed the condom and rolled it over his dick, taking a final overlook at the mess he had made of the Riddler as he rubbed more lube on his dick.

Edward looked wonderfully taken apart. His hair was a mess around his red face, his eyes were glazed and slightly teary, his lips full and red from biting kisses, and saliva fell from the sides where those same kisses had gotten a little intense. He had love bites all down his throat, red nipples from where Jonathan had pulled them. His hands were still clenched to his sides and his legs were spread apart to show his full pulsing member, and his lubricated hole. Jonathan moaned Edward's name as he felt excitement spread over him. The rogue was beautiful like this.

Edward unclenched his arms and lifted them towards Jonathan, his eyes begging.

"Please Jonathan; don't make me wait any longer". Jonathan couldn't wait anymore. He pushed his erect member slowly into Edward's still slightly tight hole, expecting there to be initial resistance to the penetration.

Edward cried out at the burn as Jonathan's dick entered him. This was always the worst part, but he knew it would not be as bad if he allowed himself to relax. Edward's arms wrapped around Jonathan's neck and he lightly kissed Jonathan's lips.

Jonathan laid Edward down and placed his arms beside Edward's head, allowing the man's arms to remain wrapped around his neck. The sensation of being inside Edward was wonderful and Jonathan was glad he was a mentally strong man to resist the pressure to just continue thrusting inside Edward, but he knew that would hurt Edward and at the most could damage the man. The warmth around his dick was so pleasurable and Jonathan let out a small moan as he slowly slid in further, finally all inside Edward.

The Riddler couldn't help but sigh as he felt all of Jonathan inside him. He looked up into Jonathan's eyes and knew the man was feeling extreme pleasure because of him and it made Edward feel smug that the normally stoic Jonathan Crane was sweating and moaning because of him.

Jonathan was moving slightly inside Edward. Not enough to harm the man, but enough that he was helping to loosen Edward's muscles so that he could truly thrust into Edward.

Slowly Edward felt the burning sensation leave his ass. It had not left entirely but it was barely noticeable compared to the soothing pleasure he gained from Jonathan's slight thrusts.

"Jon, you can move more now. It doesn't hurt anymore", Edward said, signalling Jonathan to go further.

Jonathan lifted himself from Edward, his hands moving from their position beside Edward's head down beside his stomach. Edward's hands fell from around Jonathan's neck to grab the covers beside his own head, again clenching them as Jonathan began to rock his hips more.

Jonathan watched as he thrust into Edward. His thrusts were slow, as to not hurt Edward, but they were deeper than before and they glided against Edward's walls and prostate when he thrust back inside of him.

Edward's moans were rising in volume. The slow glide of Jonathan's dick was turning Edward to mush but the left him aching for more.

"Please Jonathan; for the love of anything move faster, I need this1!" Jonathan looked back up to Edward's face, he had been distracted by watching his member go back and forth inside Edward, and now saw the frustration on Edward's face.

Suddenly he was lifting Edward's hips and was sitting on his knees. He pounded into Edward, hitting his prostrate dead on and sending a large shock up Edward's spine, who let out a broken moan. Edward's feet curled and one hand returned to his face to quieten his moans as Jonathan thrust hard and deep into him, hitting his sensitive spot dead on with the blunt of his dick.

Jonathan noticed that Edward was quieting his moans again and took one hand away from Edward's hips to pin the man's hand down beside his head, not stopping his deep thrusts inside Edward.

Jonathan was making a mess of him. He couldn't stop the endless streams of moans, 'pleases' and 'Jonathan's' that left his mouth as the slender rogue relentlessly pounded into him. Edward felt like he was going to drown in the pleasure the man was giving him, his dick throbbed against his belly. He reached his un-pinned down his stomach to his rock hard dick and started stroking himself to the end he needed.

Jonathan watched Edward as he did so, taking in all of his reactions and loving every one of them. The man was just too beautiful in this situation to take his eyes off of him, and the feel of his tight ass around his cock was a sensation Jonathan would take to the grave with him.

As Edward was quickly reaching his end release he heard Jonathan moan out.

"Fuck Edward". Jonathan's sudden exclamation gave Edward the final push he needed to his release and he tumbled off the edge, vision going white as he felt the rush of pleasure through his body. He let out one final loud cry of Jonathan's name before going lucid in the other man's arms. He could feel Jonathan still thrusting into his ass before the man finally tightened his grip on Edward's hips and then came to a stop, falling just beside Edward.

Edward felt a hand push hair out of his face, and lips softly kiss along his cheeks, but the tension was now gone from Edward's shoulders and he fell into one of his best dreamless sleeps.

~Next morning~

Edward's eyes slowly opened. He was lying in his bed; his room was illuminated lightly by the sun through the curtained window. Edward felt well rested, better than he had been feeling for a very long time. There was warmth to his right and arms wrapped around him. He turned slightly and saw Jonathan Crane beside him. The Scarecrow was still sleeping; his face calm and without his usual smirks or worry lines on it. Edward remembered last night and felt the throbbing pain around his hips. He would not be walking today.

He sighed gently to himself and snuggled back into bed beside Jonathan. Content at the moment to just lay there. He knew he would have to get up soon and have a shower and something to eat, but for that moment he simply wanted to enjoy the man sleeping silently next to him before he woke up and said something condescending to ruin the moment.

'Well at least he can take all this rubbish I have lying around', Edward thought, before closing his eyes and falling back to sleep beside the lanky man that he had decided to choose over everyone else.

~The End~

Okay guys. I really hoped you liked this fanfic. It was a lot of fun to write it. I am open to maybe adding a couple of one shot fics if anyone wants them or if i feel like it but otherwise I'm probably going to move on to another fanfic. Again, hope you guys enjoyed. 3


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